1. Real World
Leadership
Develop leaders who can drive real change.
Developmentthatdrivestransformationandgrowth.
Partoneofthe Real World Leadershipreportseries.

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About the study.
Korn Ferry commissioned a comprehensive, global survey
of views on leadership development in July and August of
2015. The survey generated more than 7,500 responses
from 107 countries, with broad representation from
markets such as North America, the UK, continental
Europe, Australia, and Asia. Three in four of the leaders
who responded are engaged in their organizations'
business functions; the rest are in human resources.
The breakdown of the respondents follows:
C-suite (26%)
VP/SVP/EVP (31%)
Director (27%)
Other (16%)
2

4. Introduction.
Leaders must become catalysts for change.
Our research tells us that organizations understand that aligning leadership and leadership
development to drive strategic change is critical to their success. The problem is, in too many cases,
execution is falling short. Meeting this challenge is one of today’s overriding leadership development
challenges.
Leadership development can be a powerful lever for CEOs to:
Drive a changing strategy.
Build the talent pipeline.
Develop a culture that aligns to strategy.
Create a more socially conscious and purposeful organization.
Developing leaders to drive financial performance and operational excellence will always be
important. However, given the unrelenting pace of technological change, globalization, and an
anemic world economy, organizations realize they need leaders who can effectively respond to
constantly evolving business opportunities and threats, and chart a path to sustainable growth.
To explore these issues, Korn Ferry commissioned a global survey on leadership development. The
results reveal a gaping disparity between the widespread importance of strategic change and the
confidence respondents have that their organization's leaders can deliver that change.
3

5. Key findings include:
Only 17% of those surveyed are confident their organization has the right leadership to deliver on
its strategic priorities.
More than half of executives rank their leadership development ROI as "fair" to "very poor" and
they would throw out and rework half of their current leadership development approach if they
could.
On average, 50% of first-level, mid-level, and high-potential leaders are not active in driving
change.
Developing leaders to drive strategic change is the highest priority for executives, yet nearly half of
the respondents reported that managing through strategic change is the number one shortcoming
of current leadership.
What does all this mean? To start with, organizations need to re-think how they define and execute
their leadership development strategy so that it can drive strategic change. Leadership development
strategies need to build leaders who can engage the entire workforce and equip leaders who can
really drive those changes. Ultimately, to meet this challenge, we’re looking at a sea change in
leadership development, organizational culture and purpose, and, perhaps most importantly, linking
business strategy and leadership strategy in a completely new way.
This is the first in a series of reports that discusses the results and implications of our research on
leadership development. Our goal is to provide evidence-based, actionable information to assist
organizations with developing leaders and placing them in the right roles to ensure future success.
Stu Crandell
Senior Vice President of the Korn Ferry Institute
4

6. Developing leaders who will
drive strategic change.
Rank the most pressing, strategic business priorities in your organization.
1 2 3
Improving
profitability
22% 16% 12% 50%
Increasing organic
market share
20% 14% 15% 49%
Accelerating the pace
of innovation
16% 17% 15% 48%
Expanding into
new regions
11% 10% 10% 31%
Aligning talent to a
new strategy
8% 12% 15% 35%
Reducing costs while
maintaining quality
7% 14% 13% 34%
Disrupting the
marketplace
7% 8% 7% 22%
Operating globally
with consistency
5% 6% 8% 19%
Integrating mergers
and acquisitions
4% 4% 5% 13%
Driving innovation and strategic change in organizations is challenging. Why? Because it requires
behavioral change and leadership change, and change is hard. It often entails overthrowing existing
practices and processes and replacing them with new goals and new ways of doing things. It takes
people out of their comfort zones. It may mean sacrificing short-term financial performance for
potentially larger long-term returns.
It’s risky. So no wonder it’s difficult for organizations to achieve. But it’s also absolutely essential.
The good news is organizations are embracing strategic change—at least on a conceptual level.
When we asked business leaders to rank the most pressing strategic business priorities in their
organizations, almost half (48%) ranked "accelerating the pace of innovation" in their top three out of
nine priorities, which was nearly the same as "improving profitability" and "increasing organic market
share." Ten years ago, this would have been unlikely.
Rank the most pressing, strategic business priorities in your organization.
5

7. "Companies understand that we’re in a long era of slow
global growth," said David Dotlich, president of Pivot
Leadership, a Korn Ferry company. "They’ve reduced debt,
downsized, and re-focused their businesses. They’ve done
everything that’s easy to do. Now they are in the search for
growth. And they know that it’s going to come from
innovation, creativity, change, and finding new ways to do
things."
A catalyst for change.
The implications for leadership development are profound.
"Leadership development is now officially more than
bench building. It’s about alignment, communication, and,
most importantly, change and growth," says Noah
Rabinowitz, senior partner and global head of Korn Ferry’s
Leadership Development practice. "Developing leaders to
be a catalyst for change should be at the center of every
business strategy."
Leadership development that is focused on preparing
general managers and future leaders will remain important.
However, in line with the business priority of accelerating
innovation, companies are looking for leaders that will
embrace, as well as drive, accelerate, and promote positive
change.
"Growth means change. Change in culture, people,
strategy, leadership, and organizational structure," explains
Rabinowitz. "Drilling down, change requires new behaviors,
new routines, new methods, new customers, new
perspectives, and new technology. It takes leadership and
agility to make all this happen."
A holistic approach to
developing change
leaders.
Organizations that wish to develop
change leaders need to begin by
understanding the foundations of
human behavior. Korn Ferry’s Four
Dimensions of Leadership and
Talent—skills, experiences, traits, and
drivers—provide a complete picture
of the individual qualities that drive
performance, engagement, and
leadership effectiveness. Once a
high-resolution view of talent exists,
organizations can identify and
develop change leaders with greater
precision.
Accelerating the
pace of innovation
ranked in top
three global
strategic
business
priorities
6

8. When asked about the most important leadership development priorities in their organizations,
survey respondents were crystal clear. "Developing leaders to drive strategic change" was the top
priority, followed by "filling gaps in the leadership pipeline" and, in third place, "driving culture
change."
Rank the most important leadership development priorities
in your organization.
"This has been building for some time," says Andrew Pek, senior partner at Korn Ferry, "and is now
more pronounced than ever. It is about getting talented people with great ideas in the right positions
with the right support. For example, organizations want leaders who may have worked at a
successful start-up or a product development incubator within a larger organization."
1 2 3
Rank the most important leadership development priorities in your organization.
29% 19% 18%
Developing leaders to
drive strategic change
66%
22% 16% 16%
Filling gaps in your
leadership pipeline
54%
16% 16% 13%Driving culture change 45%
12% 14% 13%
Accelerating time
to performance
39%
7% 15% 16%Driving engagement 38%
6% 12% 14%
Diversifying the
leadership pipeline
32%
8% 9% 10%
Becoming more purpose
and values driven
27%
7

9. Disruptive diversity.
Another element of change is seeking out new
perspectives and appreciating the diverse experiences of
people who haven't traditionally been asked to provide
input or were not perceived as potential leaders.
"For too long, organizations have sought out alternative
thinking from homogenous and mainstreamed leadership
teams," says Andrés Tapia, senior partner at Korn Ferry.
"Disruptive thinking will only happen with leadership teams
that are diverse in every which way—age, race, ethnicity,
gender, disability, sexual orientation, personality, thinking
style, and so on."
Clearly, organizations need to change their approach to
business growth and leadership development, especially
with more diverse leadership teams. Companies that do so
can more effectively fuse their business strategy with their
leadership development strategy and may very well find a
recipe for growth and an edge over their competitors.
"For too long,
organizations have
sought out
alternative thinking
from homogenous
and mainstreamed
leadership teams."
Andrés Tapia
Senior Partner
Korn Ferry
Companies that effectively fuse their
business strategy with their leadership
development strategy may very well
find a recipe for growth and an edge
over their competitors.
8

10. Organizations lack confidence
in leaders to deliver strategic
change.
While organizations extol the importance of
strategic change, many question whether their
current leadership is up to the challenge.
According to our findings, only 17% of
respondents are confident they have the right
leadership in place to deliver on strategic
business priorities. Moreover, 27% are either
unsure or do not think their current leadership
can successfully execute strategic priorities.
ONLY
17%
of executives are
confident their
organization has the
leadership capabilities
it needs.
For Brigitte Morel-Curran, senior partner at Korn Ferry, "The study quantifies the fear many top
executives have, that their board-level strategy is difficult to implement given their current talent
capabilities. Executives ask: 'How can I get there from here, with the talent I actually have on my
team?'"
To some extent, executive teams may be uneasy because strategic change leadership is inherently
more difficult and organizationally disruptive than operational leadership.
Do you have the right leadership capabilities in place to execute on your
organization’s strategic business plan?
4%
12%
11%
56%
17%
Definitely no
Somewhat no
Unsure
Somewhat yes
Definitely yes
Do you have the right leadership capabilities in
place to execute on your organization's strategic business priorities?
9

11. Driving strategic change.
Organizations report there is a substantial lack of engagement in driving and executing strategic
change among mid-level, first-level, and high-potential leaders. This lack of engagement contributes
to doubts among some of these leaders about C-suite strategic change initiatives.
"The value of most strategic plans is rarely fully realized," notes Rabinowitz. "The strategy message
gets diluted because behaviors don’t change, people don’t engage the way we need them to, they
don’t think in new ways, and they don’t evolve fast enough. Implementation breaks down due to
stagnant cultures, entrenched ways of doing things, commitment to the status quo, and ultimately
due to lack of leadership."
Finally, C-suite leaders play multiple roles, and, as such, may have difficulties maintaining a
consistency between what they say about the importance of innovation and change and their
actions. The pressures of short-term financial performance and shareholder accountability can derail
longer-term strategic initiatives.
"It depends on the leader, of course," says Michael Van Impe, senior partner at Korn Ferry. "But I
have seen many examples where investments in some type of innovative project or approach were
cancelled due to short-term financial pressures. It happens all too frequently."
10

12. Leaders are not displaying
the right behaviors to inspire
and drive change.
Does your leadership team demonstrate the leadership
behaviors needed for your organization to successfully
deliver on its strategic business priorities?
4%
14%
10%
55%
17%
Definitely no
Somewhat no
Unsure
Somewhat yes
Definitely yes
Leading for change requires a different set of skills than those required for traditional business
management. Change leaders must be agile, flexible, resourceful, and have the ability to navigate
unknown situations. They must be good listeners and open to new ideas from all corners of the
organization. And, most importantly, change leaders must be able to articulate a vision and inspire
others to higher levels of performance.
"To do so, a change leader must be tuned into the reality that not 'one size fits all' when it comes to
motivating talent within the organization," Tapia asserts. "The challenge for leaders is to find the right
message for each and every internal audience so organizations pull together to achieve their goals
for strategic change."
According to our survey, less than 20% of respondents report full confidence that their leadership
teams are consistently demonstrating the behaviors needed to drive strategic change.
Does your leadership team demonstrate the leadership behaviors needed
for your organization to successfully deliver on its strategic business
priorities?
11

13. "What leader wants to say that his or her team
'somewhat' or ‘kind of’ has the behaviors needed
to deliver?" points out Crandell. "The right kind
of development programs can give greater
confidence that teams have the skills needed
when it’s time to step up to the plate."
"On the one hand," continues Van Impe, "leaders
may say all the right things about innovation and
change; however, what they do in practice can
be another thing entirely. This is yet another
example of the gap between what is stated and
what gets delivered upon."
Many companies talk about soliciting input from
all levels and across diverse backgrounds of the
organization but, in reality, they still operate very
much in a top-down, command-and-control
manner, according to Van Impe. Strategy is
formulated within a small group at the top,
perhaps with the assistance of external advisory
support, and then the typical approach is to
force the innovation from the top down.
"When you don’t have buy-in from the people
who are expected to help create and then
execute the strategy, it’s a problem," says Van
Impe. "And when the strategy is put together by
the same type of people, with the same
perspectives, that’s a problem too."
"When you don’t have
buy-in from the people
who are expected to
help create and then
execute the strategy,
it’s a problem."
Michael Van Impe
Senior Partner
Korn Ferry
ONLY
17%
of leadership
teams demonstrate
the behaviors
needed for
organizations to
deliver on strategy.
12

14. Unlocking innovative
leadership mindsets.
Korn Ferry Growth and Innovation
Incubator helps organizations
address their largest strategic goals
and challenges by developing
leaders with new mindsets and skills
to successfully navigate and manage
internal and external disruptors—
such as risk aversion and
conservatism within the organization
or rapidly changing technology and
consumer needs externally—while
driving growth for the business.
This experience dramatically
changes the way senior leaders think
about organizational growth, the
competition, and, more importantly,
their collective response to both.
Not only will leaders develop
learning agility—the ability to learn
from experience and successfully
apply that learning to new or
first-time conditions—but also their
capacity for expansive thinking and
inclusive leadership which contribute
to a much greater level of senior
team alignment.
Risks and rewards of innovation.
Taking intelligent risks is part of innovation and trying
new things. Do leaders reward people who think out of
the box and take risks that are consistent with the
organization’s strategic vision, or do they penalize people
if the risk doesn’t bear immediate rewards?
Organizations seek and prefer predictable outcomes;
there's fear associated with change. Leaders and
organizations struggle between doing business as they
always have, even when existing approaches falter, and
innovating, even when new ways hold great promise.
"In my experience, many companies have a tendency to
hang on to the 'tried and true' too long," says Van Impe.
"And this frequently cuts out people who may have new
ideas. When it becomes obvious that the 'tried and true' is
in decline and companies need new ideas, it’s often too
late."
For Tapia, "The answers often lie in young talent that has
traditionally been on the margins, which is where
innovation always begins."
All of these behaviors—the gap between rhetoric and
actions, the failure to reinforce behaviors consistent with
innovation, and a bias toward the familiar over the new—
can undermine strategic change initiatives, leading to a
weakening of an organization's culture.
13

15. Lack of leader engagement
jeopardizes strategic change
initiatives.
Describe the extent to which each leadership
level is active in driving strategic change in
your organization.
4%
15%
28%
43%
10%
Mid-level
leaders
8%
21%
33%
31%
7%
First-level
leaders
6%
12%
23%
43%
16%
High-potential
leaders
Very
active
Somewhat
active
Neither active
nor inactive
Somewhat
inactive
Very
inactive
One of the truisms in business change theory is that engagement across the entire organization is
crucial. While our survey indicates that strategic change is a top business priority, the data also
reveals a distinct lack of organizational alignment when it comes to implementing those changes.
Our survey respondents said they perceive that 62% of first-level leaders, 47% of mid-level leaders,
and 41% of high-potential leaders do not actively drive strategic change in their organization; this
means that, on average, half of the leaders below the senior executive level are perceived as inactive
in organizations' efforts to make strategic change.
The specifics are as follows:
Describe the extent to which each
leadership level is active in driving
strategic change in your organization.
Leaders and
organizations struggle
between doing business
as they always have,
even when existing
approaches falter, and
innovating, even when
new ways hold great
promise.
14

16. Boosting enterprise-wide engagement.
"The problem is that C-suite leaders make decisions and
they are highly engaged in their own decisions, but their
engagement is not translating or taking hold across the
organization," stresses Morel-Curran. "The question is then,
what are they doing about that?"
"It’s a bit like the old game, where a message is passed
through a number of people and by the end of the line, it is
completely altered," says Crandell. "This is of concern
because no strategy can be effectively implemented
without the buy-in and alignment of all employees."
Without organization-wide engagement, strategic change
initiatives will not fully succeed, nor will any critical
business initiatives.
"The problem is that
C-suite leaders make
decisions and they are
highly engaged in
their own decisions,
but their engagement
is not translating or
taking hold across the
organization. The
question is then, what
are they doing about
that?"
Brigitte Morel-Curran
Senior Partner
Korn Ferry
An average
of only 50%
of leaders below the
senior executive level
are actively driving
strategic change.
    
    
    
    
15

17. Leadership matters
at every level.
First-level leaders are on the front lines of functional units
within organizations. Frequently, they lead small teams and
they can play a vital role in implementing change on a local
level. The pace at which local teams adopt change has a
multiplying effect across an organization and first-level
leaders are instrumental in helping to overcome resistance
to change while building commitment to the organization’s
strategic goals.
Mid-level leaders shape and determine the outcome of
key organizational initiatives. They often manage other
managers or a business function and are usually
accountable for growing revenue or managing costs. They
may experience conflict between short-term performance
and the costs involved in strategic change efforts. Thus,
their buy-in is critical.
High-potential leaders are generally younger or
mid-career individuals who have been identified as
future leaders. While a higher percentage of high
potentials (59%) are actively or somewhat engaged
in driving strategic change than either first or mid-level
leaders, the numbers are very disappointing.
"If I were a CEO and saw that only half of my high-
potential leaders were very active, I would ask 'What’s
going on with the other half?' These are our future leaders.
This is the future of our organization," Crandell adds. "Fifty
percent is unacceptable. The number should be around
80%-100%."
Furthermore, the lack of engagement among high
potentials could lead to substantial turnover, which is the
last thing an organization wants to see among the young
leaders they are preparing for higher level leadership
positions.
The move from individual
contributor to first-level leader is
critical for both individuals’ careers
and organizations’ success, yet over
80% of those who try fail to make
this transition successfully. The
Korn Ferry Leadership Principles
program significantly improves first-
level leader success by addressing
common pitfalls, and building a
leader's mindset and the ability to
motivate and mobilize others.
Mid-level leaders deal with complex
problems that require leadership,
collaboration and strategic thinking.
Korn Ferry Enterprise Leadership
for Emerging Talent allows mid-
level leaders to engage in realistic
business simulations where they are
challenged to employ strategic/
systems thinking, change leadership,
and influence skills.
High-potential leaders are an
organization’s greatest source of
innovation, agility, strategic
excellence, and inclusive leadership.
Korn Ferry High Potential
Accelerator is an immersive
leadership development journey,
designed to prepare high-potential
leaders to take on broader senior
executive leadership roles.
16

18. A culture of collaboration.
There's a larger point: To alter their culture and create an
environment where strategic change and innovation can
occur, organizations need broad engagement and
alignment among their talent. All leadership levels need to
participate.
"Organizations want collaboration and alignment, but it's
not happening yet at the first or mid-levels of leadership,"
Dotlich says, adding "There is a big opportunity to drive
changes in culture and performance if this shortfall and
others can be addressed."
Further, organizations can help generate new thinking and
ideas, and encourage even more change in their culture, if
they commit to creating a more diverse leadership pipeline
with talent from varied backgrounds and experiences. This
is the kind of new behavior that organizations must
undertake.
To Rabinowitz, "it's about more than alignment—it's about
embedding new thinking and new behaviors within the
culture. Change and execution are made up of the sum
total of people's leadership behaviors," he asserts. "In the
absence of significant behavior change, among all levels of
leaders, strategy implementation will break down. Get it
right and there will be an organizational transformation."
Inclusion generates
new ideas.
To grow and compete effectively,
organizations need to leverage the
potential of the entire workforce.
The most successful organizations
achieve this by creating an
environment in which everyone is
empowered to develop, contribute,
and succeed.
Bringing individuals together from
different backgrounds, experiences,
styles, and perspectives creates a
broader dialogue and is likely to
generate new ideas and approaches
to getting things done.
Our approach to developing diverse
leadership is based on the
Four Stages® of Contribution
development framework.
17

19. Leadership development needs
to become more relevant.
Developing leaders to drive strategic change requires a
different focus on leadership development, survey
respondents said. In general, they indicated a preference
for development that deals with the contemporary issues
they are facing in their organizations as opposed to a more
abstract, top-down, conceptual approach.
Rabinowitz believes the Korn Ferry Four Pillar approach to
leadership development can help organizations solve the
challenge of developing a new generation of leaders to
drive strategic change. The first pillar, "Context is critical,"
speaks to the challenge of applying development to real
world issues. "Leadership development has to be deeply,
deeply relevant to business strategy and the current
cultural landscape," he says. "It should be about what’s
going on in an organization. People should talk to each
other and exchange ideas about how they are struggling
with and solving real world problems, involving their
teams, customer experience, product relevance, dealing
with biases, and a host of other issues."
Moreover, survey respondents indicated a preference for
"journey-based" development as opposed to "time-bound"
or event-based programs. "There’s a growing awareness
that when you send someone to a five-day program at a
major school, the impact can be limited," says Pushp Deep
Gupta, senior partner at Korn Ferry. "Development should
be a journey where people learn over time the skills to
navigate their organization and become effective in driving
strategies to achieve new business objectives."
Korn Ferry’s Four
Pillars of Leadership
Development
To prepare leaders to meet today’s
demands, development must
become more relevant and draw
upon four critical pillars:
1. Context is critical. Design
development around the real
business mission, culture, challenges,
and opportunities. This provides the
context required for leadership
development to be transformational
and drive measurable ROI.
2. Develop the whole person. Focus
on what leaders need to be and do
to help maximize potential and
match individual strengths and
motivations to organizational needs.
3. Treat leadership development as
a journey. Move beyond
transactional development.
Leadership development is a career-
long process that requires continued
learning, with an intensity and
timeframe that match the ambition
and scale of the desired strategic
goal.
4. Service promotes purpose. Link
business strategy with purpose. The
opportunity to contribute beyond
oneself activates inherent leadership
capabilities and enables people to
experience the power and impact of
true leadership.
18

20. A blended approach to learning.
"Historically, leadership development has been
about one-time events, usually offsite or in
classroom settings," adds Claudia Hill, global
lead for high-potential leadership development
at Korn Ferry. "The problem with that, research
shows, is that after two weeks only 12% of
learning is retained and 2% applied.
Organizations spend money and time, nothing
happens, and no meaningful change occurs."
"Instead," Hill continues, "leadership
development needs to be engaging on a
continuing basis in big and small ways. It needs
to be a blend of things that fit together:
workshops, coaching, assessment, peer groups,
action learning, technology-enabled learning
simulations, immersions, leaders as teachers,
among others. It’s more difficult than bringing
everyone together in a room and talking about
the new plan. But, ultimately, it’s far more
effective."
What best describes the ideal ratio
of development programs
at your organization?
Time-bounddevelopment
3%
20%
37%
33%
7%
100%/0% 75%/25% 50%/50% 25%/75% 0%/100%
Developmentjourney
Pre-designedsolutions
9%
38%
30%
20%
3%
100%/0% 75%/25% 50%/50% 25%/75% 0%/100%
Customizedsolutions
19

21. Redefining leadership development
to drive innovation and growth.
Survey respondents are unhappy with their
current leadership development programs. If
they were to start over, respondents reported
they would only retain 52% of their current
approach. Furthermore, 55% judged the return
on their leadership development spending
investment as only "fair," "poor," or "very poor."
Three major findings in the study highlight the
importance of innovation and strategic change:
1. Accelerating innovation is a top strategic
business goal.
2. Developing leaders to drive strategic change is
the top leadership development priority.
3. Re-thinking and reforming at least half of
respondents' current leadership development
approach is top of mind, to make it supportive of
developing strategic change leaders.
"Ideas and innovation are what's going to drive
growth," says Dotlich. "As part of that,
companies need to identify their business
strategy and implement that strategy in the
talent dimension. There are tools that can help
people become more innovative and create
environments where people can be more
creative."
If able to start over
with leadership
development,
business and HR
leaders would only
keep
52%of their current
approach.
55%
of leadership
development
ROI is judged as
fair to very poor.
20

22. The barriers to successful
leadership development.
Creating and implementing strategic change
requires the development of new types of
leaders who can be responsible for driving
change by engaging the entire organization,
create a sense of mission and purpose, and
ultimately, change the organization's culture. It’s
a tall order. But, if leaders are not effectively
developed and engaged at the outset, chances
of success are slim.
Our survey respondents identified "lack of
executive sponsorship" as the top barrier to
successful leadership development, followed
closely by "lack of budget" and "lack of
alignment between stakeholders."
1 2 3
20%2% 6% 12%Lack of technology
68%14% 24% 30%
Lack of delivery
resources
73%26% 21% 26%Lack of budget
71%26% 28% 17%
Lack of alignment
between stakeholders
68%32% 21% 15%
Lack of executive
sponsorship
Rank the barriers to successful implementation of leadership development.
Rank the barriers to successful implementation of leadership development.
Build a stronger organization
through sponsorship.
To help senior executives become better
mentors, coaches, and educators for the next
generation of leadership, while also building a
culture of learning and development, Korn
Ferry created the Senior Executive Sponsor
program. An immersive, half-day session
focuses senior executives on how to forge
highly productive relationships with new
leaders and assist them on their leadership
development journey.
21

23. "Top leadership is the most active in implementing
strategic change," says Van Impe. "But they do two things
that I think undermine their own efforts. First, they try to
force change from the top down and skip the steps
involved in engaging people at all levels and developing
buy-in for implementing the change. Part of that involves
failing to develop the leaders at all levels to implement the
change. They need to understand better that change
strategy and leadership strategy go hand in hand."
"Second," he continues, "they need to be willing to spend
money on new types of development programs that result
in the leadership skills necessary to drive change and
innovation. They can’t skimp on this part. You can’t solve
million dollar problems with hundred dollar solutions."
"If leadership development does not include building up
the competencies necessary to lead diverse teams
inclusively," Tapia warns, "leaders and organizations will fall
far short of achieving their urgent goals of innovation,
growth in new and diverse markets, and attracting and
retaining the best professionals from all talent pools."
Alignment of stakeholders in backing leadership
development investments is critical, but oftentimes lacking.
In most public companies, maximizing financial
performance and company valuation for the benefit of
shareholders is a top priority. The pressures of short-term
financial performance can undermine both strategic
change and leadership development initiatives.
Managing inclusion.
Most leaders appreciate the
importance of diversity and
inclusion. However, few understand
how to manage a diverse workforce
so that everyone can contribute their
best work and continue to grow.
The Korn Ferry Managing Inclusion
program is designed to help
managers build the skills they need
to cultivate an environment that
supports higher levels of
performance.
Lack of executive
sponsorship
ranked as top
to successful
l e a d e r s h i p
development.
global barrier

22

24. Establishing a core mission and purpose.
According to Rabinowitz, the focus on profit alone
doesn’t create the type of high-level motivation or
cultural energy that instills leaders in some organizations
with a sense of mission and purpose.
"Typically, profit is not as intrinsically motivating as other
things," he continues. "The military, for example, deeply
embeds a sense of purpose and vision into its work. Some
pharmaceutical companies do the same by proclaiming
their mission and purpose to cure diseases—not to sell
more drugs. If they are committed to this, profit serves
this purpose and leaders are developed into this larger
sense of community, purpose, mission, and social
consciousness."
At the C-suite level, Rabinowitz senses, many leaders do
have a larger purpose and vision. However, in many cases,
he feels the sense of mission and purpose gets diluted as
it flows down the organization.
"In leadership development, we need to be looking at the
whole person," he urges. "We need to flip the paradigm of
why we exist and what we’re trying to accomplish. We
need to give leaders a sense that there is a higher
purpose to what they’re doing."
The pressures of
short-term financial
performance can
undermine both
strategic change and
leadership development
initiatives.
23

25. Recommendations.
Connect leadership strategy with business strategy:
Organizations need to identify the kinds of leaders
required to execute their strategy and then build their
development/recruiting approach around those profiles.
Part of that exercise is to include a greater variety of
voices and perspectives in the leadership pipeline.
Embed change throughout the organization: The entire
organization needs to be enlisted in change initiatives.
Effective and significant organizational change only
happens when a large number of people collectively align,
engage, and drive growth and change.
Make leadership development programs contextual and
relevant: Organizations should orient programs around
current business and strategic issues. That will generate
engagement and fresh approaches to business challenges.
Encourage a sense of purpose and mission: Individuals
and organizations are far more motivated and energized
when they are connected to a higher purpose or feel they
are providing a service to the world, their customers, and
their community.
"Developing
leaders to be a
catalyst for change
should be at the
center of every
business strategy."
Noah Rabinowitz
Senior Partner and Global Head
Korn Ferry Leadership Development
24

26. Conclusion.
Organizations are facing significant leadership challenges. Many survey respondents say their
organizations lack the leadership and leadership development programs needed to effectively drive
change, innovation, and growth. Successfully addressing those challenges will be a major factor in
differentiating the winners from the losers in the years ahead.
"Done right, leadership and talent provide organizations with a significant competitive edge," says
Rabinowitz. "Most organizations could benefit from a deeper and more sustained focus on leadership
development."
The need for change is apparent in our findings. Organizations are buffeted by slow economic
growth on one side and tumultuous marketplace upheavals on the other. For most, relying on
organic growth alone is a recipe for inertia and decline. To drive sustainable growth, organizations
will need to find new markets, new customers, and new ways of doing things.
Our survey respondents indicate the problem is threefold. First, confidence in current leadership to
drive change is low; second, there are gaps throughout the leadership pipeline; and finally,
engagement in strategic change among leaders outside of the C-suite is lacking.
The stakes are high. Without leaders who can successfully drive change, organizations will flounder in
a difficult economic environment. Indeed, organizations that cannot get the right leaders in place
may find change is forced upon them—in the form of downsizing or divestiture.
Up next: Build a pipeline
of ready-now leaders.
The second report in the series focuses on how
organizations can strengthen, diversify, and
close gaps in their talent pipeline.
25

27. kornferry.com/real-world-leadership
#RealWorldLeadership
Develop leaders who can drive real change.
Part one of the Real World Leadership report series.
Real World Leadership
Accelerating
the pace of
innovation
r a n k e d i n
top three
global strategic
business
priorities.
ONLY
17%
of executives are
confident their organization has
the leadership capabilities it needs.
ONLY
17%
of leadership
teams demonstrate
the behaviors
needed for
organizations to
deliver on strategy.
Top 3 global leadership
development priorities:
Filling gaps in the
leadership pipeline
2
Driving culture change3
Developing leaders to
drive strategic change
1
55%
of leadership
development
ROI is judged as
fair to very poor.
If able to start over with leadership
development, business and HR leaders
would only keep
52%of their current approach.
Lack of
executive
sponsorship
ranked as
top
b a r r i e r
to successful
l e a d e r s h i p
development.
g l o b a l
Developing leaders to be a catalyst for
change should be at the center of every
business strategy.
Noah Rabinowitz
Senior Partner and Global Head of
Korn Ferry’s Leadership Development practice
An average
of only 50%
of leaders below the
senior executive level
are actively driving
strategic change.
    
    
    
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28. About Korn Ferry
Korn Ferry is the preeminent authority on leadership and talent. For
nearly half a century, clients have trusted us to recruit world-class
leaders. Today, we are their partner in designing organizational
strategy and developing their people to achieve unimaginable
success.
For more information, visit:
kornferry.com/real-world-leadership
#RealWorldLeadership
About The Korn Ferry Institute
The Korn Ferry Institute, our research and analytics arm, was
established to share intelligence and expert points of view on talent
and leadership. Through studies, books, and a quarterly magazine,
Briefings, we aim to increase understanding of how strategic talent
decisions contribute to competitive advantage, growth, and success.
© Korn Ferry. All rights reserved.
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